Monday, November 19, 2007

C-List "Apprentice" Replaces "The Office"?

As Tripp Darling would say, 'Who are these people?" Fourteen "celebrities" including a couple of media whores will battle it out over a $250,000 prize bonus to donate to charity on the 7th cycle of NBC's Donald Trump reality show "The Apprentice." The fading series appears to be taking over the plum Thursday at 9 timeslot from the critically-acclaimed comedy "The Office."

The show will premiere on Thursday, January 3 at 9/8c. According to The Futon Critic the remaining 13 episodes will also air in the timeslot, although NBC has yet to confirm that. With a job with the Trump organization no longer at stake, will the viewers tune in?

"The Apprentice" originally aired on Thursdays at 9 in early 2004 with season 1 finale pulling in 28.1 million viewers. The 6th cycle of the franchise which aired last spring averaged 7.49 million viewers, ranking 102nd on the final Nielsen chart for the 2006/2007 season.

Can the strike-induced lack of original scripted programming along with 14 C-list celebrities help rejuvenate the tired series?

Although I personally enjoyed the first couple of seasons of "The Apprentice," I have since lost interest in the series as it gradually deteriorated over the past couple of years. And pulling out the celebrity card most certainly turns the show into an utter parody of its former self.

Trump is of course still tossing around superlatives: "This will be the most exciting season of 'The Apprentice' yet - maybe even better than Season One. Our fourteen celebrity contestants are incredible individually, and as a group they will make 'The Celebrity Apprentice' one of the hottest shows on television. I promise you a fantastic new season!"